What The Federal Clean Air Act Means For Your Fleet

By Jim Thorpe

Every trucking company has to do their best to ensure that all the trucks in their fleet are thoroughly inspected. All trucks have to pass the smoke test. For those of you who don't know, the smoke test is geared towards determining how much smoke is produced by a truck's emissions system. A truck that has poor emissions will give the company that it's attached to a bad name. You have to make it an absolute point to inspect every truck down to its nuts and bolts. It's important for you to come up with a protocol that will allow you to get a good look at every struck without incurring too many unnecessary expenses.

Planning for a Long Trip

It's tempting to want to cut corners in order to save money on maintaining your fleet. You should avoid this notion as it creates the possibility that your trucks will start getting you in trouble. Truck companies have schedules that they have to stick to. If they miss scheduled stops, their business could become compromised. For that reason, each truck needs to be inspected at regular intervals to ensure their viability. You shouldn't wait for the first sign of a problem for you to take action. Pre-emptive repairs are more likely to save you from more significant ones later on.

Respecting the Environment

The amount of pollution the trucks in your fleet will send out has a tendency to multiply exponentially. Your company's carbon footprint will directly impact how the public views it. Everyone is moving in a direction where they're more inclined to pursue things that are environmentally friendly. It doesn't matter if people are dealing directly with trucking companies. They will be brutally honest in their opinions about the trucking businesses that they feel are being environmentally irresponsible. You will have difficulties in rehabilitating your image when you have developed this kind of reputation. You might as well work with your trucks to make sure that they won't be a problem.

Proceeding in a Responsible Direction

Companies in every industry are being judged at this moment for what they're doing for the environment. If they're not doing right by it, they usually get slammed. It doesn't matter if the people doing the criticizing are merely casual observes. As soon as the word gets out that a company is not doing their part to take care of the environment, they will have a hard time coming back. It's better to work on developing a sincere reputation for environmentally friendly initiatives now than it is to wait until it's too late.

Monitoring the Amount of Miles

When you're attempting to reduce your emissions, you also need to be aware of the things that are working within your company. Too many businesses are willing to overthrow their procedures in the interest of becoming environmentally responsible. You have to look at what you're doing now to determine what should be changed and what should remain the same. Your efforts in this situation will alter your operations in either a positive or negative fashion.

About the Author:

At the time the California Air Resource Board's diesel emissions regulations first came out, Michael Schwartz, now President of FleetServ, started getting calls from panicked Fleet Managers looking for straight-forward information and compliance assistance. While FleetServ (formerly known as ACT Compliance) was originally formed to meet this need, over time it has evolved into much more.